Robert P. George
By Napp Nazworth
WASHINGTON — The days of acceptable Christianity in America are over, so in order to be a faithful witness to the gospel, Christians must be willing to suffer the costs of discipleship, Dr. Robert P. George declared in a Tuesday speech.
George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University and chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, was delivering the “lay guest speaker” address at the 10th Annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. While his remarks were directed at his Catholic audience, Christians of other faith traditions may also find them encouraging.
“The days of acceptable Christianity are over. The days of comfortable Catholicism are past. It’s no longer easy to be a faithful Christian, a good Catholic, a faithful witness to the truths of the Gospel,” George began.
American culture no longer favors faithful Christians, George claimed, noting in particular the derision that comes from being pro-life and pro-traditional marriage. Because of that, Christians must be willing to bear the consequences of standing up for the teachings of Jesus and his bride, the Church.
“They threaten us with consequences if we refuse to call what is good, evil, and what is evil, good. They demand us to conform our thinking to their orthodoxy, or else say nothing at all,” he said.
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A powerful speech by Dr. George.
A point not explicitly made, at least in the speech excerpts in the article, is that the demise of “acceptable Christianity” has been brought about not just by changes in secular society, but from within the church. Many people sitting near you in the pews on Sunday have accepted the “progressive” viewpoint on marriage re-definition and abortion; and those people are increasingly open to the idea of seeing to it that you either join them in those views, or face ostracization.
“It’s no longer easy to be a faithful Christian, a good Catholic, a faithful witness to the truths of the Gospel,” George began.”
It was never easy to be a good Catholic and a faithful witness to the Gospel, Don. It wasn’t until Martin Luther nailed his theses to the church door and translated the Bible into English that Catholics knew anything about the gospel. Luther had no idea that out of his well-intentioned antisemitism would grow this reprehensible Palestinian distrust of the Jews, and the Israel/Palestine Mission Network’s “Zionism Unsettled: A Congregation Study Guide” would replace the King James Bible as the faithful rule of study and practise.